A History of Dove Street

In the Beginning – Medieval Bristol

Medieval Bristol was an over-crowded city hemmed in by the city walls and rivers which defended it. Most of the lands outside the city walls were owned by the church parishes, so the city became densely packed with tall houses. Even the bridge had 4 story houses and a chapel built onto it to take advantage of the limited space. Poor sanitation and overcrowding made Bristol smelly and rife with diseases, but as the crossroads between 2 major rivers with a thriving port, the opportunities for trade drew a growing population.

Outside the city walls, on Kingsdown, north of the crowded city, St James Priory and St Michael’s on the Mount Without were the main landmarks. The remaining land was mostly farmland, with a few scattered farm buildings, where monks and farmers worked the land, which sounds quite idyllic… and it probably was on a sunny day.

However, the countryside outside the walls could be a dangerous place, with Viking and Barbary pirates raiding to capture slaves, brigands and bandit gangs stalking travellers, and the ever-present dangers of war… such as when Isabella of France laid siege to Bristol in 1326, which ended in the public hanging and disembowelment of the loser. Life back then was short and often brutal.

As the church slowly lost its dominance over the city, lands outside the city walls began to be devloped. City mayor John Stokes was given lands north of the city in 1364. His farm became known as Stoke’s Croft. The muddy track which led through his farm became a shortcut for farmers travelling to St James Fair and the Horse Market, eventually becoming a turnpike road.

Ye Kinges Downe

The horsemen would have been nobles, because maintaining horses was expensive, and the modern concept of cavalry didn’t exist in medieval times. Bristol Castle became a royal castle in the reign of Henry II, so the horses could have been exercised on Kingsdown from any time from 1173 until the end of the medieval period.

Being short on entertainment, I expect that the horsemen exercising their horses would have attracted crowds of onlookers, cheering on their favourite horses, swooning over the more handsome riders, maybe doing some unlicenced betting and attracting pie sellers and hawkers.

Dove Cote Farm

Dove Cotes were built to house doves or pigeons (which was an interchangeable term for a long time), to collect their eggs, The name is the source of the name for Dove Street flats, which were built on the site of the later Dove Coat Lane.
When Kingsdown slopes were mostly undeveloped farmland, the dovecote would have been a prominent landmark.

Dove Street is full of rock pigeons who roost on the roofs and balconies of the blocks, and the park is filled with wood pigeons… I often wonder if these pigeons are the descendants of those original inhabitants of the dovecote.

Kingsdown Windmill

There were several prominent windmills on the hills around Bristol, as can be seen on many maps and drawings, such as this one from 1743. The windmill would have been a prominent landmark.

The City Gallows

Not the most inspiring landmark on Kingsdown hill, but a reminder of the harsh sentences given for minor crimes. One of the more famous executions was in 1556 when six local Protestants were burned at the stake here for heresy after refusing to recant. The gallows were moved to the New Gaol in the harbourside in 1812.

The Civil War Era

The 17th century saw great social changes in Bristol. In medieval times, Bristol had been run by the church, and a succession of warring lords and kings, eventually being run exclusively by the crown. But the growing power and money of the merchant classes led to Bristol being run by the merchants, in particular by the Society of Merchant Venturers, who regulated and funded the huge trade in commodities from the port. Bristol became second only to London in prosperity, and manufacture and trade flourshed. Factories and workshops were established in Bristol and the surrounding countryside.

After the dissoloution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in the previous century, church lands that had restricted the growth of Bristol were sold to private owners, and the establishment of suburbs began.

At the time of the Civil War (1642–1651), Kingsdown and Stokes Croft were still on the outside edge of Bristol, with a few market gardens and isolated houses in the area. The edge of the city was marked by the Stokes Croft turnpike, at the current Ashley Road and Ninetree Hill junction. Beyond the turnpike was the Thornbury Road, still part of Gloucestershire.

The War

As a merchant city, Bristol wanted to remain neutral and keep trading at the beginning of the Civil War, and the city leaders were dismayed when Cromwell’s Parliamentary forces took over the city in 1642, but accepted them begrudgingly, swearing the necessary oaths of allegiance to keep their positions.

In 1643 Prince Rupert led the Royalist army in storming the city, breaching the defenses and racing down what became Park Street to take the city. For 2 years, Bristol groaned under occupation. Prince Rupert was a young, dashing and handsome commander, but also cruelly indifferent and haughty, and his soldiers took advantage of their power over the citizenry that they had been billeted with.

In 1645, Cromwell’s forces besieged Bristol. The city defenses had been rebuilt and a defensive line stretched from the docks to a fort on Brandon Hill. The defenses continued in a line across Park Street up to Royal Fort in Kingsdown, then on to Colston Fort on Kingsdown Parade, and on to Prior’s Hill Fort, situated in Fremantle Square. The defences then ran down Ninetree Hill to Stokes Croft turnpike, then on to Lawford’s Gate by Cabot Circus.

Cromwell’s army needed to breach the defenses at Stokes Croft turnpike to enter the city, but to do so they needed to destroy the guns in Prior’s Hill Fort. The attack took place late at night, when the guns couldn’t accurately fire upon the invaders, who worked by the light of bonfires. The Parliamentarians were supported by cannon fire from Monpelier and Cotham. Prior’s Hill Fort had very steep, high walls with portholes to fire muskets, so the battle was long and bloody. Eventually, the walls were breached by ladder and the fort was taken after hours of brutal hand-to-hand combat lasting throughout the night, leaving hundreds dead, strewn across the fields of Kingsdown.

A young lady was due to marry the Royalist Captain Pugsley when Cromwell’s attack began. They were hurriedly married by candlelight on the night of the battle in Bristol Cathedral, before young Captain Pugsley had to hurry off to Prior’s Hill to defend the city. In the battle for Prior’s Hill Fort, Captain Puglsey was killed, and buried in a nearby field, next to a spring.

His widow was utterly heartbroken to lose her love on her wedding night, and spent the rest of her long life dressed in mourning, and would walk up to visit the grave of her dead husband every day for the rest of her life.

After the war, people used to visit Kingsdown for the fresh air, away from the fumes and noise of the city, and nannies would take their children there to play. Ma Pugsley, as she became affectionately known, would run around playing and laughing with the children and bathe people’s eyes with the spring water, which was said to have healing properties for the eyes. She became a lovable eccentric, seen every day walking from St Nicholas Gate up to Kingsdown in her widow’s weeds until she died aged 80 in 1705.

She had specified that her funeral should be a happy affair because she would be happy to be finally reunited with her husband. So a fiddler led the procession, playing a merry tune, with girls strewing flowers along the route. She was carried in an open bier, dressed in her wedding dress. 10,000 mourners attended the huge funeral procession, and Ma Pugsley became one of the city’s legendary stories.

Now Ma Pugsley’s well is almost forgotten, lying in a back garden by Nugent Hill, and her story, full of romance, war and undying love is no longer remembered… although her story is an inspiring one.

The Balloon Flight of 1810

Sadler took a stray cat with him, which was dropped by parachute over Abbott’s Leigh. The cat survived and was adopted by a physician who named it Balloon.

Undoubtedly, there would have been crowds of onlookers watchiing from Kingsdown slopes as the balloon crossed Kingsdown on its way to Abbott’s Leigh.